They may be increasing well-known now, but this was not the case prior to the 21st century. For a long time, artists from many cultures have been exploring the possibilities this technique has to offer. For KAZoART artists it is a limitless source of creation and expression that will not fail to surprise and captivate you! Here is an overview of our best mixed medium paintings for sale!

Famous mixed medium paintings and artists

It was already quite common to mix ink and pigments for landscape paintings in Asian art during the 15th century. In France, in the 19th century, Edgar Degas associated several techniques on some of his canvases, in La Répétition de ballet (1876-1877) or sculptures, including La petite danseuse de quatorze ans (1881). In England, to name but one, William Turner had already painted Scarlet Sunset (1830-1840), with a mixture of gouache and watercolour. They are, of course, not the only ones, and as of the 20th century, cubist Georges Braque, used mixed medium for his work Compotier et cartes(1913). Paul Klee in Fish Magic(1925), Pablo Picasso with Tête d’homme(1969), Wassily Kandinsky and Spitz im Werck(1927), are just a few examples of famous mixed medium paintings.

Andy Warhol, a pioneer in many respects in the artistic scene of the 20th century, helped establish the reputation of acrylic for its powerful colours and readily associated with it oil paint, ink and pencil.

Using mixed media: how and why?

Mixing techniques is a spantaneous reflex that artists have had for a long time, all around the world, to optimise the number of possible colours and textures. To achieve effects such as opacity, transparency, brightness, texture and superposition, a single technique, even if well mastered, may not be sufficient. However, some combinations of mixed mediums are more successful than others.

There are three main media families: dry, wet and oil. A painted canvas can easily be used in combination with a pictorial technique and a dry medium such as pencil or pastel. However, painting can belong to all these families: the pigments in their raw state come in powder formand William Turner applied them to his canvases dry before adding water. Watercolour, meanwhile, is wet, more or less concentrated, like gouache, and dries quite quickly. Acrylic, which dries easily, is often associated with oil, provided that a specific order is followed. Guidelines must be respected for each medium to respect its composition, some combinations may, in the long run, damage a work of art, such is the case when water is added to oil, and causes rot.

Many artists do not simply use artistic media to create their pieces and search their surrounding environment for inspiration. Sand, rice powder, feathers, leaves, and earth are just a few examples of the natural materials that can be used to further enhance works of art.

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